If you think designing a book cover is easy,think again. This short video from Random House shows the many iterations for the cover of Jill Alexander Essbaum’s new book Hausfrau: A Novel that were created before the final cover was decided on. This adds up to over 100 covers, wildly varying in style. Altogether, five designers, two letterers and one illustrator were involved in the process.

Random House Publishing Group’s executive art director Robbin Schiff explains that the process was an attempt to find a way to convey the tone of the book without revealing plot details.

“The final design, with its stark Swiss typography against the moody and lush floral grouping, conveys a sensual but claustrophobic atmosphere,” he says. “The most intriguing designs don’t give too much away, and you absolutely can judge many things about the book by its cover.”

He feels that this is true of Hausfrau: A Novel, which tells the wrenching story of a woman’s affair and the end of her marriage. Essbaum’s book will in stores on March 17th.